Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace
development, has clarified that foreign airlines operating in Nigeria are not
mandated to serve local dishes on outbound flights.
His statement followed a directive issued on Tuesday,
instructing foreign airlines to patronise local caterers for on-board meals.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Keyamo said the airlines must
patronise local caterers, who are fully equipped to prepare continental or
other specified meals based on the airlines’ requirements.
“This is to clarify that directing foreign airlines on
out-bound flights to patronise our local caterers is not the same thing as
directing them to serve local dishes,” Keyamo said.
“Our local caterers
can also prepare continental dishes or anyone for that matter ACCORDING TO
THEIR OWN SPECIFICATION.”
Keyamo condemned the long-standing practice of airlines
bringing frozen meals from other countries and reheating them for Nigerian
passengers on outbound flights, noting that the method is no longer acceptable.
He reassured the airlines that Nigeria has quality control
agencies in place to monitor the hygiene and safety standards of meals prepared
by local caterers.
“On the flip side, if they want us to trust the quality of
the food they bring into our country to serve our own citizens, then they also
should trust our own process of vetting those meals made by our local
caterers,” he said.
“The bottom line is that we must support our local
businesses with our huge population and traffic.”
Keyamo added that foreign caterers should not benefit from
opportunities that are meant to primarily support the Nigerian economy.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com